The NAC did Nick Diaz wrong. Seriously. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
In the immortal words of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, “What we’re dealing with here is a complete lack of respect for the law.”
The 60-month suspension and $165,000 fine (heist) being imposed are an embarrassment when juxtaposed with Diaz’s opponent that fateful night in January. Anderson Silva, the disgraced former G.O.A.T., got hit with a one-year suspension and similar 30 percent fine after testing positive for multiple performance-enhancing drugs.
Now I know the commission went in hard on the “He has no respect for us and he hurt our feelings” front, but let’s look at this objectively. I don’t give a rat’s ass if Diaz has sparked up a big fat Bob Marley joint in the middle of the hearing; he still would have more respect for the health and safety of fighters and, by proxy, the commission than anyone who decided they are going to used PEDs when trying to inflict great bodily harm on their opponents.
There is a fatal flaw in the system when something like this can happen.
Throw out the positive test results and conflicting expert testimony and ask yourself this question:
What did Diaz do that was worse than any of the litany of combat sports athletes who have been popped for PEDs?
Did he hurt Pat Lundvall’s feelings? Or better yet, did his attorney, Lucas Middlebrook, upset her by having the audacity to advocate for his client? It sure as hell seems like it.
Lundvall, the resident crusty old neighbor of the commission, butted heads with Middlebrook a couple times during the hearing, and it became apparent she was irked when she put forth a motion to pull Diaz’s Vegas rights. She clearly wanted Diaz gone and expected him to stay gone.
Unfortunately for Lundvall, Nevada’s official English Language Understander Verifier (I think that is her official title, maybe not) there was Anthony Marnell, taking a break from being the “minor league catcher who didn’t make it because everyone else was on roids” to offer a bit of clear thought to the process.
Marnell just didn’t seem like he could get behind a lifetime ban for weed. Now that is probably a good idea considering a company he was linked to received a medical marijuana license in 2014.
HOLY [EXPLETIVE] S---!
Can this get any crazier?
Well, yes. Yes it can.
Remember, the Nevada Athletic Commission is the comedy troop that brought you some of the best material sketch entertainment has to offer.
There was the Alistair Overeem hearing: Google that one. We can’t forget the Chael Sonnen series that culminated with the heel turn -- admitting he was gimmicked-up all along -- after agreeing to help the commission with its testosterone replacement therapy protocols. That sneaky bastard: We never saw that one coming.
I know it was only a couple weeks ago, but Silva’s sex-enhancer skit was one of my favorites. Oh, oh, how about the Jon Jones cocaine test that shouldn’t have been done but was released to the public anyway? Total knee slapper there.
Another one that will definitely make the NAC box set will be the Floyd “Money” Mayweather chronicles. That time it let him fight before heading off to be incarcerated for a domestic violence conviction was classic. So was the time he was hauled before the commission to “explain” the footage from Showtime where two young fighters were forced to scrap for 31 minutes. Also caught on camera were people burning the hippie lettuce (that is marijuana, for all you pro-commission people) at the Mayweather mansion.
The result of those inquiries you might ask? No, you wouldn’t ask. You already know the commission didn’t do jack about them. Too much money to be made.
I have called the NAC the Keystone Cops of regulators and derided its proceedings as a Kangaroo Court for quite some time now, but honestly, that is too good for it. It is nothing more than a shambolic group of self-important people appointed by the Good Old Boy’s network in Nevada that care more about fighters showing deference to them, even if it is nothing more than a dog and pony show, than they do about real regulation.
At the end of the day the NAC's job, like all state commissions, is to create a veneer of health and safety while the fighters put their lives on the line for our entertainment and, more importantly, the lining of state coffers. Those coffers in Nevada are $165,000 richer today than they were yesterday.
Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.
It is well past time for a national commission to take over the regulation of combat sports. I know it is a pipe dream, but the sooner these local backwaters are driven from the trough the better it will be. Imagine a sport where every state required the same pre-fight medical tests, made pre- and post-fight drug testing mandatory and followed the same regulatory protocols.
A man can dream … and then, unfortunately, wake up.
Greg Savage is the executive editor of Sherdog.com and can be reached via email or on Twitter @TheSavageTruth.
Editor's note: This item was updated at 12:28 p.m. ET to correct a factual error -- Mayweather's controversial program aired on Showtime, not HBO.